The Ill-fated

If after India there is any losing team I have felt really sorry for then it was South Africa in 1999, and the player I felt miserable for, as anybody could guess, was Lance Klusener. He was spectacular in that season. He seemed to have both the courage and the determination it takes to be a fighter of a cricketer. Klusener repeatedly outperformed himself by scoring 281 runs at an average of 140 and a strike-rate of 122, having been dismissed only twice in his 8 appearances with the cricket bat. He also claimed 17 wickets in the tournament, constantly turning games away from the opposition with his sparkling all-round performance. And for the record, he deservedly was the Man of the Tournament too. But he lost. He and Allan Donald - who, as we often forget, had picked up 4 wickets in that gem of a semi-final - together showcased the worst piece of running in the history of World Cup Cricket to tie the match and consequently exit the tournament. As he ran towards the non-striker end, Klusener's woe was beyond reach of any facial expression he could sport, and hence he kept walking towards the pavilion with an impassive face.

If Klusener was a survivor in '99 then Martin Crowe was an innovator and a great leader in '92. He led a bunch of decently talented Kiwis to an unexpected top slot in the league in a world cup where each team played the other. Martin Crowe's 100 not out in Auckland upset Australia by 8 wickets in the very first game of the tournament. Martin Crowe gave the new ball to the spinner in Deepak Patel to produce fascinating results at home. He also promoted Mark Greatbatch as a pinch-hitter to take advantage of the new rule of having just 2 fielders inside the circle in the first 15 overs. Martin Crowe had captained New Zealand to win 7 of the 8 matches they had played in the tournament, including the last loss against Pakistan before his side met Pakistan once more in the semi-final at Auckland. Martin Crowe's 91, well-supported by Ken Rutherford's 50, had almost taken New Zealand to their maiden World Cup final when Pakistan were 140-4, chasing New Zealand's 262. But Crowe's fancy dreams were destroyed by an unknown Pakistani youngster called Inzamam Ul-Haq, who scored a sensational 60 off 37 deliveries to see his team in the final of the cup that they were to win. Crowe was left with a staggering 496 runs in 9 matches, the pride of being arguably the best captain in the tournament (in close competition with the victorious Imran Khan), and with the Man of the Tournament award - which was given for the first time in a cricket world cup. His innovations were later used by many - both successfully and unsuccessfully - in their own ways, and Crowe later retired from one-day cricket in '95 leaving behind him a glorious memory of the best World Cup performance New Zealand have ever produced.

I know that nobody's - leave alone mine - words will suffice to describe what we had seen then. Yet, this is my small tribute to Lance Klusener, Martin Crowe, and all those ill-fated performers who could not take their team through to the ultimate glory, but stunned the world with their magical performances and forced themselves into the golden pages of the history of World Cup Cricket.